AGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM)

Brengun, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Phil Parsons

Eduard's 1/48 scale MiG-23 Wheels are available online from Squadron.com

Developed in the 1970s as General Dynamic's answer to the Boeing Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM), the Tomahawk although functionally similar to its competitor is aerodynamically and structurally a very different beast. The Tomahawk was designed from the very beginning to coexist with a naval multimission environment, this reflects in the airframe shape and structural modularity of the vehicle. These two attributes offered a basing/role flexibility, albeit gained at the expense of flat-out maximum speed, which not only secured the weapon's future in the naval arena but also won it the role of the Ground LCM.

The basic Tomahawk is a 21 ft (6.4m) vehicle with a launch weight in the 26001b (1200kg) class, subject to specific missile version. The missile airframe is essentially circular in cross section from nose to tail, with most of the structural modules being cylindrical in shape. The aft most section of the Tomahawk is the tail cone, which houses both the control surface actuators, these driving the four symmetrical folding control surfaces, and the powerplant. The baseline Tomahawk is fitted with a 600lb thrust class low bypass ratio Williams International F107 turbofan.

Brengun are the second company to release a 1/48 Tomahawk cruise missile and this missile adds to the 1/144 and 1/72 Tomahawks that Brengun have previously released.

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All the parts are nicely moulded in grey resin with very finely panel lines, with the resin free of bubbles and no casting flaws. The main missile body has very clean lines and based on many other resin aftermarket missiles the first thing that I noticed was the distinct lack of positive mounting points for the main wings and tail fins. I feel that this will increase the difficulty when mounting and aligning the wings and fins.

The missile construction consists of the two wings, four tail fins plus booster assemble, the last seven resin parts and PE go towards construction of a missile dolly. There are  a small set of very basic decals to cover a Royal Navy, US Air Force, and one with just the words Tomahawk on ,looking online most images show minimal markings on the missiles themselves.

The painting guide is very basic with no specific name brand colours identified and while there is a painting guide for the missile, there are none for the dolly.

A unique individual aftermarket item that will suit a very specific market, recommended for the moderately experienced resin user.

Highly Recommended.

Assembled images from the Brengun website

History from http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Cruise-Missiles-1985.html

Thanks to Brengun for the review sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2013 by Phil Parsons
Page Created 19 December, 2013
Last updated 19 December, 2013

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